January 11th to the 17th

This was a solo trip for me and I tried to add a few new things to the mix.

Travel

I signed up for TSA pre-check last summer so this was the first time using it. When I left PVD it was really quiet so I didn’t really need it, leaving LAS is was fairly busy, so it did help. I need to keep in mind that now I don’t need to get to the airport so early. I flew Southwest with connections in Baltimore. All four segments were fine, and reached the final destinations about 40 min late each way, which I don’t feel is too bad for flying in the winter. Rented an Altima from Dollar that only had 16,000 miles on it, and the GPS was not locked so I had free GPS for the trip.

Lodging

I stayed at Gold Coast for the first two nights and Main Street Station for the last four. A note to light sleepers, ask for a room facing Flamingo at GC. I was on the back side on the 4th floor and there several trucks loading and unloading right below me starting early. With ear plugs it wasn’t very bad. I was in room 1721 at MSS which was pretty quiet. MSS rooms could use an update, hopefully after they are done with the Cal, MSS will be next.

Food

I went to In N Out and Ronald’s Donuts twice each. I wish both of these was a lot closer to home. I tried 4 different donuts and my favorite was the raspberry filled.

N9NE steakhouse – I went during happy hour and ordered Lobster Potstickers and Filet Mignon Sliders, both were excellent. I had a good IPA that I can’t remember the name, but that was tasty also.

Ellis Island – Steak and eggs off the all-day menu and I’m sad to say the steak was really tough and the potatoes were just sad. I would still go back though since all of the other times I tried it it has been good. Forgot to get a root beer and was kicking myself the rest of the day.

Fat Choy – man I love the food here. Pork Belly Bao and Sesame Noodles with Chinese Sausage, both were fantastic. The Chinese sausage does have a pretty good kick to it. I need to try it for Sunday Brunch one of these trips.

MSS Brunch – I always go once a trip and I feel this is one of the better value buffets in town. No Manny at the omelet station, but it was still good.

Pop Up Pizza – had a slice of white and a slice of veggie, both of which were very good. Could have been the 10 beers I had during the Pats game that added to it. I wish it had its own space rather than basically being in the casino.

Paina Café – Spicy Tuna Poke Bowl with brown rice. I have never had poke before so I have nothing to compare it to, but the bowl was huge and the tuna was delicious. The only complaint (which is totally my own fault) is it is way off the strip, half way to Summerlin on Spring Mountain Road. Next time I might try to find a poke place closer to downtown or the strip.

Goodwich – I had the pig of the week sandwich which was chopped pork belly and shoulder, black eye peas, collard greens with a Carolina BBQ sauce. It sounded a little strange to me but holy crap it was awesome! This will be a must stop every trip.

Table 10 – This is my last dinner most trips. I always get the tasting menu. This time it was BBQ shrimp, smokey mushroom pasta, french onion braised short rib and white chocolate malassadas. I feel this is one of the best deals in Vegas and the food it terrific.

Gambling

This section will be short because outside of two good hits the rest of the time was pretty sad. By the end of the second day I was down half of my bankroll with four days to go. Day three was flat, day four I won $900 with a good chunk coming from 4 4’s with a kicker on TDB. On day 5 my trip was saved when I hit a dollar royal at MSS for $4091 on the very first hand of the day. I usually play the .50 Bonus progressives by the bar but the 2 machines I liked were taken, so I went around the corner, held 3 spades and the last two filled in for the royal. The rest of the day and most of the last day were losses, but I still managed my first winning trip ever. I was one card away from hitting a royal at the airport on the way out. There are four machines by gates C1 and C2 that have 9/5 TDB, where most of the others I saw was 8/5. It’s sad that you can find better VP at the airport vs. the bars on the strip.

Misc

I finally went to the Atomic Testing Museum after planning on going for the past 10 trips. Totally glad I went as it was a great way to spend 45 min to 1.5 hours depending on how much detail you read. The other part was an Area 51 exhibit and that was kind of hokey and sad.

My new favorite place to play bar top VP is at Pub 365 at Tuscany. I tried a bunch of Joseph James brews (including their root beer), Tenaya Creek and Four Peaks Kilt lifter (mostly because the name made me laugh). I had good service and they can comp most beers outside of their unicorn beers.

I did a combo LVA match play / $20 at the bar tops coupon run downtown that was pretty successful. At the D I won my $25 match play plus $5 at the bar, at Golden Gate won the $25 match play plus $80 at the bar, but lost both the match play and the $20 at the bar at Plaza.

I stopped in at Lucky Dragon and like everyone has said, it’s nice but kinda small and no excitement in there, mostly because it was dead during the day. They did give me a free dumpling with my drink on the floor which was nice and kind of strange at the same time.

I played at 19 different casinos with a lot of repeats. Still trying to not spread my play around so much but finding it hard to do

Thank you for reading this and let me know if you have any questions. -Russ

 

Thanks for your update. Congrats on the winning trip.

 

Nice trip report...Glad ya won some moolah

 

Thanks for the report, Russ!
Sounds like you had a blast--and not just at the Atomic Testing Museum!

RICHARD

 

Nice report!

And love flying out of PVD. Except for the 6am flight when there may be a line, I generally get annoyed if there are 3 people ahead of me in TSA, and wonder what the hold up is. I finally got pre-check, but it's really for all of the other airports, not PVD. (I once pulled into the parking lot 40 minutes before my flight, checked in, went through TSA, and got to the gate as they called for elite boarding. Didn't stop walking from the parking lot until I sat in my seat.. couldn't have timed it all better).

Also, love the Kilt Lifter. Great beer, wish we had it around here.

 

You eat good and off the beaten path, like your style.

One very small pet peeve not just you, but I wish people said the name of there airport instead of the code, unless it's JFK, LAX or ORD and the greatest LAS I don't know what it is unless it's one my airports I fly from ROC, IAH.

 

Wow - 19 different casinos sounds like a lot of fun. I definitely enjoyed your food reviews also.

 

It's Providence, RI. Your abbreviations confuse me too due to distance apart...thought IAH was Houston, but ROC only means Rochester, NY to me. A google search hints I was correct on both.

Generally I agree with you, but sadly partly thanks to this forum, I have got into learning the abbreviations. I still like to call STL "Lambert Airport".

And nice hits Russwin! I have also noticed that LAS have better VP on some machines. I found 8/5 DDB on quarters last trip...I was surprised!

I also enjoyed the atomic history museum...but I'm pretty sure my g/f was bored to death. Oops.

 

Thanks for the report! I, too, spent one trip in a GC room above the trucks.....I now request one down the other wing and it's all been quiet.
Congrats on the VP wins.....it always sounds great unless one realizes how quickly it can be lost!

 

I also love PUB 365 at Tuscany. I sat and played video poker for hours and won money while drinking free Prairie Artisan Ales Prairie Bombs. Great beer list at a great hotel.

 

Thanks everyone for reading my report.